ABSTRACT
In Duke v GEC Reliance Ltd (1988), the House of Lords considered the construction of section 6(4) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975. In the Duke case, the plaintiff’s claim for damages based on unequal treatment was for a period prior to Parliament’s amendment of the Sex Discrimination Act to bring English law into line with the requirements of European law. The House of Lords declined to give retrospective effect to the amendment in light of Parliament’s express decision not to amend the Act retrospectively. One interpretation of Duke is that, being a pre-Marleasing case – which makes it clear that the Article 10 (now Article 4.3 TEU) duty is imposed on national courts – the House of Lords was in line with the ECJ’s interpretation of the law at the time.
